The Gorrillas

Parking with the assistance of gorillas

The gorillas to which I refer are men who have come to Spain from north and south of the Sahara Desert. They are undocumented immigrants who are ineligible to be given work, if there was any work, because they have no papers. To obtain an income whole armies of these men takeover a street, and when the motorist approaches looking for a parking spot they signal where there is an empty space. They will guide you in, and if you are very kind to them they will look out for you so that should you overstay your time, when the parking warden comes around they will buy you an extenstion of time so that you avoid a ticket.

Obviously they expect you to reward them on your return. Most people give them a euro in the belief that if they don't these men will damage their cars. I have no proof but I think this is not likely to happen because the last thing they need is police attention.

I wish that people would not leave their villages in Africa to make the extremely dangerous crossing of the Sahara and the sea to come to Spain, where Spanish people are leaving because of a lack of opportunity. The immigrants get here and they have to sleep under bridges; they find their food in garbage bins and they struggle to survive. Along the way, who knows how many died or were taken advantage of by the unscrupulous?

Apparently, the system they use to bring in a little money does work, and it should be borne in mind that a part of what they earn is sent back to Africa to benefit their families. Intolerant people condemn them and call them gorillas and the police regularly round them up, fine them, or put them in jail, but they go right back to doing the same thing when they are released.


It's a tough life, but I think that what they are doing is far better than breaking into my house or mugging me in the street. I say, live, and please, let's do our little bit to let them, and their families back in Africa,  live.

Copyright (c) 2013  Eugene Carmichael

A real modern windscreen for my car!

A windscreen to fight the sun

Myself, together with drivers of multi-wheel vehicles all over the world struggle to try to come back to a car that we have parked, that isn't an oven, by placing a piece of cardboard to block out the sun on the windscreen. As we drive into the sun we have a sunvisor each for the driver and the passenger. Neither can see where we are going when the visor in turned down. It's time for a modern solution to this age old problem.

I suggest that car glass be connected to the electrics (as they are already for heating) so that at the flip of a switch when the engine is turned off the glass becomes opaque to keep out the sun uv rays. When the engine is started the effect would be cancelled. Upon the impact of direct sun rays on the windscreen the glass would react in the same way that my own prescription glasses do, by providing a light tint across the middle, and along the top quarter the colour perhaps might take on a bluish transparent hue to take the place of sunvisors through which we can see nothing.

In an age of Smart Phones that do very impressive things that should be impossible, I'm sure that through the concentration of scientific minds a thoroughly modern windscreen can become the norm.

However, look for it first on the Mercedes S class!


Copyright (c) 2013    Eugene Carmichael

Where was my movie camera when I needed it?

Please car! Stop moving!

I was walking downhill on the sidewalk in a town when I noticed ahead of me two men chatting. Behind them was a car parked partly on the sidewalk and part on the road, which is not unusual in these here parts. One of the men decided to lean on the back of the car, and at that moment the car began to roll forward.

The reaction of the man was what we might have expected. He scrambled to hold on to the car to stop it becoming a runaway, kind of like what our model in the picture is doing. The poor guy was frazzeled and freaked out of his mind, until he realized that there was a driver in the car, and she was quite determined to go on about her business. If he insisted on trying to hold her car back that was his business, but she had places to go, people to see, and things to do.

Off she went leaving him standing in the street looking really confused. He looked at his friend; his friend looked at him and together they exploded in laughter. A street full of people joined in, but I was the person best placed to have got the award winning Funniest Home Movie worth a bunch of money.

I should be laughing all the way to the bank.
Oh well!

Copyright (c) 2013   Eugene Carmichael 

Understanding what your tyres are trying to tell you.

To understand the narrative of your tyre is important for you and for me.

In an very small sampling I discovered that most people have no idea what the information outlined on the sidewall of their tyres is trying to tell them, and even more alarming, not one of those to whom I spoke had even looked at their tyres in any meaningful way. To be honest and open I was one of those people, so I thought I had better develop my own information about something so critical and share the knowledge gained.

I have tyres that display the following markings as to size. 225/60 R 16 98V M+S. This number is inscribed on my ITV (MOT) document, which means that I must drive with this size tyre, or an acceptable form of same.

225 is the width of the tyre tread in mm. A wider or, I suppose a more narrow tread may be acceptable, but this is the factory fitted size.
60 is called the aspect to ratio, meaning the size of the tyre wall is, in this case 60% of the width.

R indicates that this is a Radial type, which means having the core fabric layers arranged radially at right angles to the circumference and the tread strengthened.

16 is the diameter of the wheel size the tyre is to fit, and is expressed in inches.
98: This is the maximum weight capacity of the tyre according to the official index table. In the table this translates to 750 Kgs.
V: This indicates the maximum speed at which the vehicle can be driven that the tyre can support. The index table rates this as 240 km/h or 149 mph. Presumably this will never be tested on a family car.

I have no idea what the M+S means.

There is a four number stamp that is important because the numbers indicate the manufacture date. The first two numbers reflect the week during the 52 weeks of the year that they were pressed, and the other two numbers are the year of manufacture.

There are other stamps that are of a technical nature that reflect such data as noise rating and approval stamps of various authorities. There is also a warning as to under and overinflation, but the one thing that is often missing is the normal pressure rating.

These are factors to keep in mind should you wish to replace the factory tyres with others. Having oversized tyres may seem cool, but they are not likely to pass muster at ITV and they may not be safe.

Copyright (c) 2013    Eugene Carmichael

More adventures in buying a Secondhand Car

Would you buy this car without knowing its history?

It's clear that most of us own and use our cars without giving the slightest thought to one day in the future having to pass it on. If we did we would do a lot of things to keep its resale value as high as possible. Instead, we live for today and generally only concern ourselves with whether it will start or not and get us to where we want to go.

This attitude is not entirely unjustified because if we find ourselves trading in our car to buy a new one, the dealer will offer us something insulting, even though we have maintained our car in tip top condition. He will then have the nerve to ask thousands from a buyer, pointing out that the previous owner took exceptional care of the vehicle.

In looking over some cars we have found a number that were in very dirty condition. First rule: if you want to sell your car, at least make it presentable. Just because it has always been kept in a slovenly condition, there is no reason to expect a potential buyer to be interested in buying it, even though he might also keep it as though it were a tip.

Personally, I insist on keeping the interior of my car in clean condition, but, that's just me. The moment I saw cars for sale that were dirty and uncared for I was ready to walk away. In fact, those cars were not ready for sale.

One of the best cars we saw that has us thinking about it is a 4x4 in apparent excellent condition. It is being sold through a division of a business that takes in cars that are to be written off. Those vehicles that are in such condition that they have more life to them are rehabilitated and placed on secondhand car sale. However, they are offered for sale without guarantee, even although it is a company that is selling them.

In such cases, the car's history is essential, but this particular car has no documentation of that nature, not even the owner's manual. To buy such a car would truly be a big gamble. We would have to drive it directly to our garage and have all belts and chains replaced and the car be given a complete service. For the consideration of a substantial discount on the asking price, we might do just that.

We will keep you informed.

Copyright (c) 2013   Eugene Carmichael